He's facing a team that’s been written off as a Champions League soft touch.
But Luciano Spalletti reckons he’ll need his Napoli big hitters to smack Rangers hard if they want to hammer home their Group A advantage. The form book could not be in much starker contrast ahead of Wednesday night’s showdown at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
As if heading into the Naples cauldron wasn’t daunting enough for a Rangers side devastated by injuries and with confidence crippled, they have to face an Azzurri line-up flying on the back of 15 games unbeaten, a run that have sent them soaring to the top of Serie A and their Champions League section. That impressive start to the campaign has raised hopes of a first Scudetto since little Diego was running amok back in 1990. But Spalletti did little to ease the worries of the Ibrox faithful fearing another merciless examination from his modern day squad as he insisted his team will be going all out for the victory which would all but wrap up the section ahead of next week’s trip to Liverpool.
“In all competitions you have to put your best foot forward, the difficulties are to repeat things every time, put in all the qualities you need, you have to go hard,” he said. Winning tomorrow then could prove fundamental because it would allow us to go into the game with Liverpool with 15 points and it would allow us to use the goal difference in our favour, so a win would be fundamental for the last game.”
It’s been a bruising return to the Champions League for van Bronckhorst’s team after four straight hammerings. But insisting he won’t take Gers side lightly, the Italian added: “I saw the last games, I found many things Rangers did well.
" Van Bronckhorst is a quality coach and knows how to find solutions. In the last game against Liverpool at the end of the first half it was 1-1 and they had other clear situations to score. It’s a mistake to think they are an easy team, we won’t think that. We will go to give our best otherwise it would mean not having the winning DNA.”
Napoli moved three points clear at the top of Serie a with Sunday’s win over Roma in the capital and Spalletti admitted he plans to freshen up the team that stuffed Jose Mourinho’s men at the Stadio Olympico. But if Gers were hoping for wholesale changes, they will be disappointed.
Spalletti added: “I always choose the formation to win, not for the turnover. Then on the possibility of having strong players out wide, it gives me the alternative of being able to let others play. In practice, we came back at 2am from Rome, in the morning at 11am it’s difficult to develop training, even today those who played did a diversified session.
“They still have to recover and so having a level squad we have the possibility to change something and we will. We will have three or four fresh players.”
Gers may be rooted to the bottom of Group A without a point to their name and a sobering goal difference of minus 15. But striker Giovanni Simeone insists no team has pushed the section leaders harder so far than the Scots, who managed to keep the Italians at bay for an hour at Ibrox before James Sands’ sending-off turned the tide on an eventual 3-0 defeat.
The Argentine ace said: “Rangers are really aggressive and physical. The first time we faced them in the group was one of our most challenging fixtures so far this season.
“We'll need to be really alert as to what they have to offer and adapt to however they approach the game. We need to show what we’re capable of in every game and keep up our good run.”
Simeone has been a scoring sensation off the bench, with the super sub hitting four goals in his eight appearances off the bench this term. The on-loan Hellas Verona frontman’s only start came against the Light Blues in Glasgow last month and he’s itching for another crack at Gio van Bronckhorst’s men.
He said: “I’d be delighted to start the game but I’m ready for action whenever the coach decides to play me. I’ve got the requisite experience to understand what matters and everyone in the squad is playing an important role.
“I’ve always said that I prepare for games with a lot of energy and I also meditate to improve my focus. Players need to be ready for action, whether they start a game or play for just a few minutes. I’ll give my all for the team and the coach, as I have done since I joined the club.”
